[Editor: This is a short story from Beyond the City Gates: Australian Story & Verse (1923) by Jack Moses.] The Smoko The “Smoko,” held annually in connection with the Wattle Flat Exhibition, is invariably described, year in and year out, as the great social gathering of … [Read more...] about The Smoko [short story by Jack Moses]
short story
O’Moses: A tale of Wattle Flat [short story by Jack Moses]
[Editor: This is a short story from Beyond the City Gates: Australian Story & Verse (1923) by Jack Moses.] O’ Moses A tale of Wattle Flat. Sometimes the train does not run to schedule time at Wattle Flat; most times it runs late — especially at show time, and show time … [Read more...] about O’Moses: A tale of Wattle Flat [short story by Jack Moses]
The ticker [short story by Jack Moses]
[Editor: This is a short story from Beyond the City Gates: Australian Story & Verse (1923) by Jack Moses.] The ticker “How do I know that the watch will keep good time and won’t go to pieces?” The question came floating from the interested crowd gathered around the … [Read more...] about The ticker [short story by Jack Moses]
The chap who sells the plough [short story by Jack Moses]
[Editor: This is a short story from Beyond the City Gates: Australian Story & Verse (1923) by Jack Moses.] The chap who sells the plough We have chanted the song of the man behind the plough, who justly merits the tribute, but rarely do we warble paeans to the chap who … [Read more...] about The chap who sells the plough [short story by Jack Moses]
The home town booster [short story by Jack Moses]
[Editor: This is a short story from Beyond the City Gates: Australian Story & Verse (1923) by Jack Moses.] The home town booster It’s not always frivolous talk in the barber’s shop; and it’s not always a fact that the chap who scrapes your chin talks nothing else but … [Read more...] about The home town booster [short story by Jack Moses]
Makin’ good [short story by Jack Moses]
[Editor: This is a short story from Beyond the City Gates: Australian Story & Verse (1923) by Jack Moses.] Makin’ good John Gray was a shearer in the old blade days, when the men who shore thought a “quid” a hundred was big pay, and the fraternity was contented. In his … [Read more...] about Makin’ good [short story by Jack Moses]
The troubles of a show secretary [short story by Jack Moses]
[Editor: This is a short story from Beyond the City Gates: Australian Story & Verse (1923) by Jack Moses.] The troubles of a show secretary I used to think that the man who wanted most patience and tact among all the people I have met, was the presiding genius at the … [Read more...] about The troubles of a show secretary [short story by Jack Moses]
Only middlin’ [short story by Jack Moses]
[Editor: This is a short story from Beyond the City Gates: Australian Story & Verse (1923) by Jack Moses.] Only middlin’ The “mail” by which I travelled was timed to pull in at Queensvale platform, at 6 a.m. Although it was generally pretty bleak at Queensvale at that … [Read more...] about Only middlin’ [short story by Jack Moses]
Judging the hacks [short story by Jack Moses]
[Editor: This is a short story from Beyond the City Gates: Australian Story & Verse (1923) by Jack Moses.] Judging the hacks Not the least important section of the schedule of the Annual Exhibition of Wattle Flat is the 12-stone hacks; a most magnetic section, which has … [Read more...] about Judging the hacks [short story by Jack Moses]
“Bred out where the gum trees grow” [short story by Jack Moses]
[Editor: This is a short story from Beyond the City Gates: Australian Story & Verse (1923) by Jack Moses.] “Bred out where the gum trees grow” I am not quite sure whether Jimmy Howard had ever read Bacon’s fragment of an essay on Fame — I rather doubt it — but the fact … [Read more...] about “Bred out where the gum trees grow” [short story by Jack Moses]
The pessimist [short story by Jack Moses]
[Editor: This is a short story from Beyond the City Gates: Australian Story & Verse (1923) by Jack Moses.] The pessimist There can be no doubt that the “man on the land,” in pursuit of his daily vocation, has much to contend with, hardships to encounter that would break … [Read more...] about The pessimist [short story by Jack Moses]
The whip o’ the West [short story by Jack Moses]
[Editor: This is a short story from Beyond the City Gates: Australian Story & Verse (1923) by Jack Moses.] The whip o’ the West Some folk, maybe, do not believe in the “long arm of coincidence,” and do not connect incidents of to-day, reflecting the happenings of the … [Read more...] about The whip o’ the West [short story by Jack Moses]
The great vengeance [short story by Agnes L. Storrie, 5 November 1904]
[Editor: A short story by Agnes L. Storrie. Published in The Sydney Morning Herald, 5 November 1904.] The great vengeance. The Principle of Human Life at last rebelled. “Behold me,” it cried, “I, the ultimate word of Omnipotence, the crowning blossom of the whole scheme … [Read more...] about The great vengeance [short story by Agnes L. Storrie, 5 November 1904]
The Two Vows of Lady Anne [short story by Erle Cox, 26 December 1936]
[Editor: A short story by Erle Cox, set in England. Published in The Australasian, 26 December 1936.] The two vows of Lady Anne Short story by Erle Cox “And so,” said the Lord of Wrotham, “it is Hertford who has added to the charter that Wrotham descends through the … [Read more...] about The Two Vows of Lady Anne [short story by Erle Cox, 26 December 1936]
Auld Lang Syne [short story by Henry Lawson]
[Editor: This story by Henry Lawson was published in While the Billy Boils (1896).] Auld Lang Syne There were ten of us there on the wharf when our first mate left for Maoriland, he having been forced to leave Sydney because he could not get anything like regular graft, … [Read more...] about Auld Lang Syne [short story by Henry Lawson]
Baldy Thompson [short story by Henry Lawson]
[Editor: This story by Henry Lawson was published in While the Billy Boils (1896).] Baldy Thompson Rough, squarish face, curly auburn wig, bushy grey eyebrows and moustache, and grizzly stubble — eyes that reminded one of Dampier the actor. He was a squatter of the old … [Read more...] about Baldy Thompson [short story by Henry Lawson]
The geological spieler [short story by Henry Lawson]
[Editor: This story by Henry Lawson was published in While the Billy Boils (1896).] The geological spieler There’s nothing so interesting as Geology, even to common and ignorant people, especially when you have a bank or the side of a cutting, studded with fossil fish and … [Read more...] about The geological spieler [short story by Henry Lawson]
She wouldn’t speak [short story by Henry Lawson]
[Editor: This story by Henry Lawson was published in While the Billy Boils (1896).] She wouldn’t speak Well, we reached the pub about dinner time, dropped our swags outside, had a drink, and then went into the dinin’-room. There was a lot of jackeroo swells, that had been … [Read more...] about She wouldn’t speak [short story by Henry Lawson]
Bogg of Geebung [short story by Henry Lawson]
[Editor: This story by Henry Lawson was published in While the Billy Boils (1896).] Bogg of Geebung At the local police court, where the subject of this sketch turned up periodically amongst the drunks, he had ‘James’ prefixed to his name for the sake of convenience and … [Read more...] about Bogg of Geebung [short story by Henry Lawson]
‘Brummy Usen’ [short story by Henry Lawson]
[Editor: This story by Henry Lawson was published in While the Billy Boils (1896).] ‘Brummy Usen’ We caught up with an old swagman crossing the plain, and tramped along with him till we came to good shade to have a smoke in. We had got yarning about men getting lost in … [Read more...] about ‘Brummy Usen’ [short story by Henry Lawson]
Jones’s Alley [short story by Henry Lawson]
[Editor: This story by Henry Lawson was published in While the Billy Boils (1896).] Jones’s Alley She lived in Jones’s Alley. She cleaned offices, washed, and nursed from daylight until any time after dark, and filled in her spare time cleaning her own place (which she … [Read more...] about Jones’s Alley [short story by Henry Lawson]
Two dogs and a fence [short story by Henry Lawson]
[Editor: This story by Henry Lawson was published in While the Billy Boils (1896).] Two dogs and a fence ‘Nothing makes a dog madder,’ said Mitchell, ‘than to have another dog come outside his fence and sniff and bark at him through the cracks when he can’t get out. The … [Read more...] about Two dogs and a fence [short story by Henry Lawson]
The story of Malachi [short story by Henry Lawson]
[Editor: This story by Henry Lawson was published in While the Billy Boils (1896).] The story of Malachi Malachi was very tall, very thin, and very round-shouldered, and the sandiness of his hair also cried aloud for an adjective. All the boys considered Malachi the … [Read more...] about The story of Malachi [short story by Henry Lawson]
Coming across — A study in the steerage [short story by Henry Lawson]
[Editor: This story by Henry Lawson was published in While the Billy Boils (1896).] Coming across — A study in the steerage We were delayed for an hour or so inside Sydney Heads, taking passengers from the Oroya, which had just arrived from England and anchored off … [Read more...] about Coming across — A study in the steerage [short story by Henry Lawson]
Our pipes [short story by Henry Lawson]
[Editor: This story by Henry Lawson was published in While the Billy Boils (1896).] Our pipes The moon rose away out on the edge of a smoky plain, seen through a sort of tunnel or arch in the fringe of mulga behind which we were camped — Jack Mitchell and I. The ‘timber’ … [Read more...] about Our pipes [short story by Henry Lawson]